Thursday, February 25, 2016

I trust that you will enjoy this guest post, The 5 Secrets to Charging What You're Worth, by Vanessa Ugatti. If you are a consultant, own a consulting firm, or provide freelanced services, this article is for you. Enjoy! - TCW

If you're reading this article, it's almost certain that you recognise that you're not charging what you're worth. Maybe you don't really know your value or perhaps you're too modest or possibly you're just not able to get your client to understand the value you provide. Let me reassure you that, whatever your problem, it can be resolved; if you really want to learn how to charge what you're worth, you can.

There are 5 secrets to charging your true worth:

Secret 1:

Recognise and admit that you are under-valuing yourself. Get very clear about the behaviours which are causing you to not charge what you're worth. Write them all down, however painful it may be. Get brutal, if necessary and flush them all out; leave no stone unturned until you can honestly say to yourself, that's it. There's nowhere to hide, nowhere to run! Very often, people who are under-charging in one way or another will come up with reasons and excuses and bury their heads in the sand, so they don't have to face up to facts! Give this up right now.

Secret 2

Work out what your service is really worth to your clients. If you don't understand what it's worth to the client, then it will be almost impossible to charge effectively. Talk to your current and past clients, so you can get their perspective on it. Without doing this, you may just be guessing and the chances are you'll under-estimate.

Secret 3

You must be willing to change. This means doing things differently and stepping out of your comfort zone or if you prefer into your adventure zone. Granted, it's scary but the alternative is just not an option. If you're not willing to change, you will never be able to charge what you're worth. You will stay exactly where you are now which, in effect, is like going backwards! How painful is that?

Secret 4

Don't take no for an answer!

Secret 5

You must be willing to invest in yourself. If you don't, you are actually saying - I'm not worth it! How then can you possibly expect to be able to charge what you're worth, because you just don't value yourself at all? This one is a biggie. So many businesses aren't willing to invest and then wonder why they are not advancing. It's easy to say: "I can't afford it or that's expensive." It's just another excuse and it's usually not even true. It's a choice you make. I didn't go on holiday for 5 years because I chose instead to invest in myself and the business and it's paying off. This December, I'm going to the Gambia, to celebrate my worth. Invest in yourself and your business and you will be able to charge what you're worth.

About the Author:

If you have any questions in relation to this article, please contact me on 01202 743961 or 07957 672335 or visit my Contact Vanessa Page to book your complimentary True Worth Strategy Session.
If you'd like to get out of the trap of giving away too much of your time for nothing, go to http://www.thetrueworthexpert.com and order a complimentary copy of Amazon Best Seller, True Worth: How to Charge What You're Worth and Get It.
Alternatively, please feel free to give me a call on 07957 672335.

Is
your business pitch on point? Need capital infusion? Enter the Black
Enterprise Elevator Pitch Competition now! You’ve got nothing to lose.
Just record and upload your best business pitch (under two minutes
please) and send it to us. The
top 10 semi-finalists will be invited to the 2016 Black Enterprise
Entrepreneurs Summit where they will pitch their idea to judges and a
live audience for a chance to win $10,000! The contest deadline is Monday, March 14th! Don’t miss your chance to pitch
your big idea!

Official Contest Rules

A video submission (no more than two minutes in length) must be submitted via YouTube with the title 2016 be Elevator Pitch Competition—(your business name) by the contest deadline, 11:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, March 14, 2016.

Send your video link to beevents@blackenterprise.com. Include your name, e-mail, and phone number. In the subject line write: 2016 be Elevator Pitch Competition.

Ten (10) semi-finalists will be selected and notified.

If
you’re chosen as a semi-finalist you will receive a complimentary
registration for you and a guest to the 2016 Black Enterprise
Entrepreneurs Summit.

The
selected semi-finalists must be present at the Black Enterprise
Entrepreneurs Summit, where they will pitch their idea to judges and a
live audience. There will be a time limit of 60 seconds for each pitch.

The top three (3) finalists, as determined by the judges, will pitch their business again with a 30-second time limit.

A question and answer session from the judges will follow each presentation.

Your business model must be original and designed to generate sales/revenues and profits.

No PowerPoint presentations or other media are allowed.

Entrants
can be one person or a team. (There is no limit to the number of team
members. However, those who pitch must have an equity stake in the
business.)

Your pitch must focus on what products or services you can offer.

Criteria:Your pitch should address the following:•What problem does your business solve?•What are you selling? Who are you selling to?•How much are you selling it for?•What is your current/projected sales revenues?

Please Note:
As an Elevator Pitch contestant, your name and likeness may be used for
future advertising and promotional purposes. Additionally, it is
advised that you obtain the appropriate legal documentation to protect
your business idea or product. black enterprise
is not liable for duplication of your business idea or product by a
third party. Prize money will be released after all mentoring sessions
are completed. The two-minute video submission is intended as a
guideline. Contestants will not be disqualified for videos within the
2-3 minute range or for using props during the video. However, onsite
these rules will be strictly adhered to.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Here is a guest post, A New Generation Emerges: How Micro Jobs Are on Your Side, by Theo Van Niekerk I hope you enjoy it! - TCW

Looking for work? Somebody out there wants you to design websites, write an application for mobile phones, maybe remotely sort out their network, or just do PC support, either on site or via the internet. And they don't want to do it all formally. It's more like "You do this for me, and I give you money".

Our world has become extremely small. No, we won't be running out of space soon, but as far as computing is concerned, very small. We are capable of controlling a computer on the other side of the world remotely (with the owners' permission, of course) and fix or modify it without breaking a sweat.

Whether you call this consulting, freelance or "Micro Jobs," more of us are headed that way, according to Kristin Cardinale. The author of The 9-to-5 Cure, Cardinale cites U.S. Department of Labor projections that "millions of short-term workers" are needed.

Short-term gigs can help programmers meet specific goals like paying for their studies, saving towards a new car, or just having some spare cash lying around.

Many people simply don't want to punch a clock, according to Odd Jobs: How to Have Fun and Make Money in a Bad Economy "Usually you decide when you work and when you take the morning off to sleep, or the week off to go skiing," writes author Abigail R. Gehring. "And the variety of people you will meet, places you'll find yourself and skill sets you'll discover are sure to keep life interesting."

Pros and cons.

OK, before you zoom off to go and quit your day job, there are (always) a few things you have to remember: Working for yourself is challenging.
If you think self-employment equals endless free time, think again, it's not always so.
However, this working lifestyle may be perfect for people who:

Are not Office Johnnies, and prefer to work on their own, at their own pace,

People who travel long distances, and find that the time and cost of getting to work are sometimes not worth the effort.

Have a special skill, and wants to make these known to a large audience of clients.

Other advantages of being your own boss?

Work according to your own hours.

Every day is Casual Friday!

Take holidays whenever you want, provided of course, you are on schedule.

Unpredictable, and fluctuations of income. It will be important to budget properly.

Right, so how do I do this?

The Internet has always been your friend. There are many sites that offer freelancers the ability to post their listing, often for free. Clients react to these post fairly quickly, obviously depending on the type of work you have to offer.

Some sites even allow clients to bid on your work, and you can then accept the individual or company that you want to work with.

Google the net for reputable sites and work with them. Try the Micro Jobs arena and see how it pans out for you. There is lots of money to be made in this new and wonderful money-making haven, and the whole concept just makes a lot of sense.

Author Bio

Written by Theo van Niekerk, I have been involved in the IT business for more than 30 years and have worked with on-line clients for many years now. If you decide to test the waters regarding Micro Jobs, I have recently opened a Micro Jobs site here at: http://www.freelancerr.co.za.
For a limited period of time our site offers freelancers FREE listings, no strings attached. Head on over and check it out, you have nothing to lose! Thank you for reading my article, and happy freelancing!

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Small business research report

Want to know what small business owners consider the current issues? Check out this VERY in-depth infographic that is based on a late 2015 survey that was conducted with 1,100 small business owners nationally regarding their perceptions of 2016. The official name is the "State of Small Business Report". That's highly appropriate! Do you fit? Are you more optimistic or pessimistic? Are there areas you had not considered? Check it out to find out.

As a small business owner, it is important to keep abreast of not only what is going on in your industry or in your town/city but what is going on in other industries or other regions that may have a less direct, but still potentially significant, impact on your business. Reading research reports is a good way to do this. However, many of these reports can be expensive. Therefore, whenever you have the opportunity to access some or all of the information in a research report, I strongly suggest you take advantage of it!